Mars Has Landed In Neptune
by RIP GG and VM
Summary: After college, Veronica took off, telling not a soul where she was going. When she returns almost six years later, it takes everybody by surprise.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Okay, so this is my first attempt at a Veronica Mars fanfic. I've seen this type of thing done before, but I wanted to try it out myself. I think the first chapter will be Veronica's POV, but after that it will probably be 3****rd**** person. I'll let you know.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars—or anything Veronica Mars related. Man, that's the first time I have ever said that about a show I'm writing about!!! Usually I have DVDs or SOMETHING!!!**

**Mars Has Landed in Neptune**

**Prologue**

Summary: After college, Veronica took off, telling not a soul where she was going. When she returns almost six years later, it takes everybody by surprise.

So here I am, sitting on a plane, going back to Neptune. I haven't been there in almost six years. I haven't talked to anybody from my life in Neptune for almost six years.

Why, you ask, am I going back _now_? I have no idea whatsoever. All I know is that I quit my job, packed up the entire contents of my apartment, hired someone to drive it all the way across the country, and bought a plane ticket to California.

I'll tell you this: it hasn't been the most fun trip, either. I just cannot seem to get any peace and quiet long enough to take a nap, and I could definitely use one. Moving across the country sure is tiring.

Oh, I think I'm finally going to get a chance to fall asleep!

"Good evening passengers; please fasten your seatbelts; the plane will be landing momentarily at your destination, San Diego." Never mind that thought.

The person next to me was still asleep, but I figured I would just let her sleep. She'd wake up eventually. When I heard the announcement that we could unbuckle our seatbelts and get off the plane, I did so. The girl who was sitting next to me woke up and followed me off.

Once we reached the lobby, I bent down and picked the girl up.

Wait—did I not mention that the girl is my five-year-old daughter? Oops. Yup, that's my daughter. Her name is Leslie Tara Mars and she's my world. The whole town is going to have their socks knocked off when they find out there's another Mars. Especially Dad and _him_.

**A/N: So that's the prologue. What do you think? I will have the next chapter up soon because I have this fresh idea in my mind and it needs to be written down:D **


	2. Mars Has Landed in Neptune

**A/N: So, here comes the second chapter! I hope you guys all like this story, by the way! Oh, I think I'm gonna keep it as Veronica first person. Oh, Keith isn't Sherriff. I always liked him better as a private eye.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Veronica Mars. Got it? Good.**

After we got out of the airport, I hailed a cab which took us to a car rental. I took my sweet time picking out a rental car because I knew that the second I got into Neptune, somebody would recognize me and news of my return would be all over Neptune.

When Leslie started getting tired, I finally picked a car and strapped Leslie in her booster seat in the back. The drive to Neptune took about half an hour, in which time Leslie quickly fell into dreamland.

So you're probably wondering, _Why'd you go, where did you go, and what did you do when you lived there? _

You think I'm going to tell you before anybody else? Yeah, right. You're just going to have to wait to find out.

Well, look at that. I just passed a freeway sign signaling the turn for Neptune. Here's my last chance to turn back. No, I couldn't do that to Leslie. I already derailed her whole life and moved her from—you thought I was going to slip, didn't you? Not gonna happen. Here's my turn. I'm two miles away from my hometown which I hadn't been to in nearly six years.

_Welcome to Neptune. _I'm here! Now where to go? My dad's office or his apartment. Wait. Does he even live there anymore? Maybe the office.

It's only a minute later when I pull up to the Mars Investigations office. I get out of the car and go unstrap Leslie from her booster seat. "C'mon, Les. We're gonna go in this place with the funny eye on the door. Sound good, kiddo?"

"Okay, Mommy. Why does it say our name on the door?"

"Y'know, I used to work here before you were born."

"That's a long time ago!"

"I know! C'mon, let's go in."

"Otay." I picked up my angel, locked the car door, and went into the place where I spent so much time in high school. I was grateful to see that my dad wasn't out in the lobby of the office. I sent Leslie into the kitchen to get a popsicle, which I know my dad always has in the freezer.

Approaching my dad's door, I could notice that he was on the phone, and that he was almost done. In about ten seconds, he hung up the phone and came out to see who came in. I swear he almost fainted when he saw me.

"Veronica?"

"Hi, Dad. Missed you," I said with a smile.

"Where have you been these last six years? Do you know how much that hurt me that you left?"

"I was in New York."

"Any particular reason you decided to spontaneously bolt?" my dad asked with pain and anger in his voice. Right then Leslie decided to come out of the kitchen.

"I couldn't reach the popsicles, Mommy," she said. I picked her up. Then she noticed my dad. "Hi, Mr."

"Veronica, did she call you 'Mommy?'"

"Yeah. See, this is kind of why I left," I said.

"So, I have a granddaughter."

"Yeah."

"What's her name?"

"Leslie Tara Mars. She's five."

"Mommy, who is this guy?" Leslie asked.

"Les, this is my daddy, Keith, your grandpa."

"Oh. Hi. Can I have a popsicle now?"

"Oh, I kinda promised her one of those popsicles you always have in your freezer," I told my dad.

"I'll get it," my dad replied. My dad grabbed a popsicle then came and gave it to Les. "I gave her the blue kind. It always was your favorite."

"It's her favorite too," I said with a smile. "Can we talk alone, like in your office maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. Hey, Leslie, you can sit in this nice big chair and eat your popsicle and your mommy and I will be right inside this door if you need us. Okay?" He asked as he pulled out the chair I used to sit in taking calls for my dad or scheming with Wallace to do something detective-y.

"Mm-hmm," Leslie said, and my dad and I went into his office.

"Okay, first off, who's her father?"

"Piz." My dad sighed. I think he was thankful; he always seemed to like Piz.

"Okay, now would you like to tell me why you left and didn't tell me about her? And does Piz know he has a daughter?"

"On that second question, no, he doesn't. I never told anyone. I'm not even sure why I left. Maybe it's because I didn't want my kid to grow up in a town where everybody hated her family, like I did for the last eight years I lived here. It's hard enough when you're a teenager who understands, but imagine what it would be like for a helpless kid."

"Aw, sweetie, I still don't see why you didn't at least tell me."

"I didn't want to disappoint you," I said.

"Honey, I love you. Nothing you do could make me feel otherwise. You're my daughter. And now you know what that kind of love feels like. Which brings me to my next question: why didn't you tell Piz? He deserves to know he has a daughter and get to feel that love."

"Piz was so set on working at that radio station in Boston. I knew that once he found out I was pregnant he would want to give up his career opportunity for me and the baby. Or I thought he might propose just because I was pregnant. I didn't want him to do either of those things, so I decided I would just raise the baby on my own and not tell him."

"Well, you're going to have to tell him sometime. And soon might be good since he's in town to go to the Neptune High School 10 year reunion with Wallace."

"Wow, has it been ten years? Wait, how did you know Piz was in town?"

"We kept in touch. You know, you broke his heart when you left. He hasn't had a real serious relationship since."

"Well, I hope there won't be any hard feelings," I giggled.

**A/N: So, I don't think it was that long, but it felt like it was!!! And I got it done!!! WOO-HOO!!! BTW, I'm on summer vacation so I might update quickly. But I also might not. You never know:) Depends on how many cookies you give me:D **


	3. Hello, Old Friend

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, you guys. I'm glad to see that people are reading this story. Now I know that many of you dislike my choice in the father of Leslie, but I started watching VM at a time where Logan was acting like a jerk toward Veronica, and then she was with Piz. And most of the time you stick to the views you have from the beginning, so these are mine, if that makes any sense. Oh, and my profile has a link to a pic of Leslie.**

**Disclaimer: I tried to write a complicated disclaimer, but it didn't work out, so I'll put it simple: I don't own Veronica Mars.**

So, Dad still lives in the same apartment. I should've known. Leslie and I are staying there. Leslie likes it a lot because there is a pool.

It's eight o'clock. Today I have to go register Leslie for kindergarten. I did mention we're _staying_ in Neptune, right?

She's going to the same elementary school I went to: Neptune Elementary. Neptune does have a great variation of school names! I wonder if some of my old teachers still work there, like my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Baer. Nah, she's probably retired. But maybe my first grade teacher, Ms. Mastain, is.

I should wake up Leslie to see if she wants to go with me or stay with 'Grandpa Keith'. It's only been two days, but those two have really bonded.

I jumped onto Leslie's bed. No reaction. "Leslie, wake up!" Still no reaction. Hm…what to do? How about I tickle her? I started tickling her and she jumps up, wide awake, laughing her guts out.

"Okay, I'm awake, Mommy! Stop. Tickling. Me," she said through giggles. I tickled her for a little longer and then stopped.

"So, Les, I'm going down today to register you for kindergarten. Do you wanna come with me or stay with Grandpa Keith?"

"I wanna go with you," she said.

"Cool. That means we have to get you dressed and fed because we don't have long! Do you want to wear your puppy shirt or your pink striped shirt today?"

"Pink striped shirt," she said. I pulled out said shirt and a pair of pink shorts and gave them to her, then went out to make her breakfast.

"Hey, Dad. What do we have for breakfast?"

"You have your choice of cereal or cereal. What would be your choice?"

"Tough decision. What kind of cereal?" I asked.

"You've got your Frosted Flakes and Honey Nut Cheerios."

"Well, I'm definitely gonna have the Cheerios," I said. Then Leslie walked out and I asked her which she wanted.

"Frosted Flakes, of course," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Frosted Flakes it is."

VMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMV

"So this is going to be your school soon," I said to Leslie as we were walking up.

She looked at the school, then back at me and said, "It's too big. Maybe we can just forget about school for, I dunno, another five years?"

"Not gonna happen. Trust me; you'll love school, Les."

"You better be right," she said. We found the cafeteria where the registration was going on and grabbed all the papers. After about five minutes of filling them out, Leslie said with a frown, "This is boring. I shoulda stayed with Grandpa."

"Go play on the playground right outside. I'll be right here." She said a quick 'okay' and bolted out the door. When I finished the paperwork, I took it up to the table. The woman standing there looked at the papers, then looked at me shocked.

"Veronica?"

"Mac?"

"Yeah, it's me. What are you doing here? That's a silly question. Here's a better one: you have a daughter?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Is that why you left without telling anybody where you were going?!"

"Well, yeah. Wait. My turn: what are _you_ doing here?" I asked Mac.

"I'm working as the secretary here until I can find something better to do with my computer knowledge. But back to you. So, where is your daughter?"

"Outside on the playground. I'll go get her." I went outside and said to Leslie, "Hey, Les, I want you to meet someone. C'mere."

"Wait, Mommy, first I want you to meet someone. This is Lilly. She's nine, and she just moved here from Australia, but she was born here. She's my new friend." Oh, my God. Is this who I think it is? Who else could it be? It has to be her!

"Hi, Lilly," I said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Veronica."

"My daddy had a friend with that name," she said with a thick Australian accent. It's definitely her.

"Okay, c'mon Les. Remember, I wanted you to meet someone."

"Oh, yeah! Bye Lilly!" she said, waving goodbye. I took Leslie over to where Mac was,

"Leslie, this is my friend Mac. She and I went to high school and college together. Mac, this is my daughter Leslie."

They exchanged greetings, and Mac leaned in and whispered to me saying, "She's Piz's, isn't she?"

"How'd you know," I whispered back.

"You were going out with Piz when she would've been conceived. Plus she looks like a mix of you two." I smiled. I guess I'm not the only one who sees it.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again. I'll talk to you soon, I'm sure. I'm staying at my dad's apartment, so call me there. Oh, are you going to the reunion?"

"Absolutely!" Mac said.

"Cool. Bye," I said, picking up Leslie. I wanted to get out of there before I saw Duncan. I know he's here. Almost there!

"Veronica?" Crap.

**A/N: YAY! I finished the chapter! What do you think? How'd you like the ending? So, those two teachers were named after my KG & 1****st**** grade teachers. Please review, you guys! Good or bad; I don't care!**


	4. Bad Mom

**A/N: Okay, so I know I kinda put myself into a hole with the whole Duncan thing, but I really didn't think of the whole kidnapping thing at all when I wrote it. I'm watching Donut Run right now though, not that that makes any difference whatsoever. So for my story's sake, I'm going to say: Pretend that Duncan didn't kidnap Lilly, they just went to Australia for some other odd reason. **

**Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Veronica Mars, but now I do own the second season on DVD:D**

_Previously on Mars Has Landed in Neptune…_

"_Cool. Bye," I said, picking up Leslie. I wanted to get out of there before I saw Duncan. I know he's here. Almost there!_

"_Veronica?" Crap._

* * *

I turned around. Yes, it's definitely Duncan. "Duncan, hi."

"Veronica, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Lilly and I are back in Neptune for good. I'm enrolling her here. She's going into fourth grade. Now it's your turn," Duncan replied.

"I'm enrolling my daughter Leslie for kindergarten." During our little chat, Leslie went back over to see Lilly since we weren't leaving yet.

"Leslie? The one that's already formed a huge bond with Lilly? That's your daughter?"

"Yeah, that's my daughter," I said. I find it ironic that my daughter seems to be becoming my ex-boyfriend's daughter's best friend, even though I haven't seen him in nine years.

"Who's the lucky guy who's married to you? It's Logan, isn't it?"

"Actually I'm not married to her father, who isn't Logan."

"Oh, well…okay. Well, Leslie's lucky to have you as a mom. Okay, I should go. Come on, Lilly," Duncan said, going over and grabbing her hand. "Bye, Veronica, bye Leslie."

"Bye Duncan and Lilly," I said. I guess now would be the perfect time to leave. I picked up Leslie and we left.

VMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMVMV

I'm in my room, sitting on the bed. I keep thinking about what Duncan said about Leslie being lucky to have me as a mom.

_Flashback—Leslie's about two weeks old_

_She won't stop crying. I can't get her to stop crying. _

_I left the room Leslie's in and sat on the couch. Now I'm laying on my side in the fetal position, sobbing. _

_I can't do this. I can't be a mother. I'm going to end up screwing up her life. Why did I have to end up getting pregnant? I can't do it! I don't think it's too late to put her up for adoption. _

_Leslie's still crying in the background. I should go try to make her stop again. _

_I went into her room, picked her up, and started bouncing her lightly up and down. I stopped bouncing and then I realized she had stopped crying and she was asleep. _

_I set her in her crib and looked at this beautiful girl I helped create. I smiled. _

_Oh, my God. Just a minute ago I was considering putting her up for adoption. How could I do such a thing? She's my baby! My daughter! I'm a terrible person._

_End flashback_

She wasn't so lucky then.

I realized I was crying. There was a knock on the door. "Come in," I said as I wiped away the tears. It was Leslie.

"Mommy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" she said. I picked her up and sat her on my lap.

"I was just thinking of when you were a baby."

"Did I make you cry when I was a baby, Mommy?" Leslie said, wiping away another stray tear. Before I got a chance to answer, my dad came in. He noticed I was crying, and had Leslie go out.

"Hey, what's wrong, sweetie?"

"It's nothing. I'm okay, Dad."

"Do I need to remind you I'm a detective?" my dad asked, just like he did many years ago.

"I was thinking of when I first had Leslie. I completely freaked. I would leave her alone in a room when she was crying, hardly trying to get her to stop. When she was like two weeks old, I actually considered giving my baby to some stranger to raise. I still wonder if I'm a good enough mom," I told my dad. I was close to sobbing. He pulled me into a hug and we just stayed like that while I cried.

"Sweetie, you're a great mother. And what's most important is that you love her more than anything in the world; that I can already tell. And she loves you too. You are each others' worlds and that shows that you are a wonderful mother, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Daddy," I said. He smiled at me because I hadn't called him daddy in a very long time. He wiped away my tears and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Let's go have dinner. That's actually why I came in here."

"Okay."

**A/N: Okay, so that's all for today. So I'm going to try to make a little collage-thing-y using the pictures I have been using while writing to help me picture the scene. R&R:D **


End file.
